Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A I0522e PDF
A I0522e PDF
Make money
b y growing
mushrooms
Make money
b y growing
mushrooms
Elaine Marshall and N. G. (Tan) Nair
Rome 2009
FAO 2009
Introduction
Contribution to livelihoods
Purpose of booklet
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Table of contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
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Public policy
Technical support and training in cultivation and processing
Business and entrepreneurial skills
Market information
Financial services
Organizational options
Role of advisor
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Opportunities
Challenges
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Table of contents
Preface
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vii
Acknowledgements
Introduction
and temperate zones, including the
Common mushroom (Agaricus),
Shiitake
(Lentinus),
Oyster
(Pleurotus), Straw (Volvariella),
Lions Head or Pom Pom (Hericium),
Ear
(Auricularis),
Ganoderma
(Reishi), Maitake (Grifola frondosa),
Winter (Flammulina), White jelly
(Tremella), Nameko (Pholiota),
and Shaggy Mane mushrooms
(Coprinus). Commercial markets
are dominated by Agaricus bisporus,
Lentinula edodes and Pleurotus spp,
which represent three quarters of
mushrooms cultivated globally.
Contribution to livelihoods
Mushroom cultivation can help
reduce vulnerability to poverty and
strengthens livelihoods through
the generation of a fast yielding
and nutritious source of food and
a reliable source of income. Since
it does not require access to land,
mushroom cultivation is a viable
and attractive activity for both rural
farmers and peri-urban dwellers.
Small-scale growing does not include
any signicant capital investment:
mushroom substrate can be prepared
from any clean agricultural waste
Mushrooms
and sustainable livelihoods
food in their own right: they are
often considered to provide a fair
substitute for meat, with at least
a comparable nutritional value to
many vegetables. The consumption
of mushrooms can make a valuable
addition to the often unbalanced diets
of people in developing countries.
Fresh mushrooms have a high water
content, around 90 percent, so drying
them is an effective way to both
prolonge their shelf-life and preserve
their avour and nutrients.
Nutritional value
Mushrooms both add avour to
bland staple foods and are a valuable
Nutritional index
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50
40
30
20
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Type of food
10
Source: FAO. 2004. Wild edible fungi, a global overview of their use and importance to people,
by E. Boa, Non-Wood Forest Products, No.17, Rome.
Medicinal value
Recently, there has been a spectacular
growth in, and commercial activity
associated with, dietary supplements,
functional foods and other products
that are more than just food.
Medicinal fungi have routinely been
used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Today, an estimated six percent of
edible mushrooms are known to
have medicinal properties and can
be found in health tonics, tinctures,
teas, soups and herbal formulas.
Lentinula edodes (shiitake) and
Volvariella volvacea (Chinese or
straw mushroom) are edible fungi
with medicinal properties widely
diffused and cultivated.
CASE STUDY 1
In many parts of Africa, edible fungi are an important food source, but in the Hai district of
Northeastern Tanzania, many community members traditionally perceived mushrooms to be
poisonous. Until a few years ago, oyster mushrooms were considered to be an expensive
luxury food for urban consumers and not of interest to resource poor households. Despite
these initial challenges, a project initiated in May 2005, led by the Horticultural Research
Institute Tengeru and supported by FARM-Africas Maendeleo Agricultural Technology Fund,
has resulted in almost 300 Hai farmers adopting oyster mushroom production in their homes.
The Kilimanjaro highlands were once a thriving banana and coffee growing region, but
with falling world market prices for coffee and unreliable rain in the lowlands, farmers have
struggled to earn an income and produce enough food. Households have become poorer
and malnutrition amongst children has increased. However, Hai farmers became gradually
convinced of the value of cultivating and consuming oyster mushrooms after attending training
and a series of cooking demonstrations held by Horti-Tengeru during 2005. The production
cycle takes about 6 to 12 weeks, and the crop can be cultivated year-round.
The benets of growing and selling mushrooms have enabled farmers to buy livestock (chickens
and goats), pay school fees and household goods, and a number of farmers have invested
in expanding their mushroom production. The benets to the household have also included
improved nutrition. (Consumption of animal protein is low in most households, even those
with livestock.) Oyster mushrooms are rich in protein and provide an affordable alternative.
A number of households have now adopted a recommended preparation of mushroom stew,
which is eaten with rice or a stiff porridge.
CASE STUDY 1
Mushroom growing involves all members of the community. Younger group members help
the older people by preparing the substrates (chopping and pasteurisation) and mixing the
spawn collectively. Individuals are then given the spawned bags to take home. Farmer groups
also share use of equipment, such as pasteurisation drums, drying trays or solar driers.
Poverty amongst some group members is also still a constraint as many lack space for
the mushroom growing structures. However, farmers are encouraged to rent rooms and a
revolving fund has been set up to allow them to buy their planting material. The majority paid
back at least half the loan within the rst production cycle.
By mid 2006, one year after the introduction of the crop, growers were selling their mushrooms
to local informal markets and also to hotels and supermarkets in Arusha and Moshi, including
a major supermarket.
Demand for oyster mushrooms in Hai and neighbouring districts currently exceeds supply,
indicating potential for further growth. To maintain demand, mushroom quality, good packaging
and consistent production will have to be sustained. Farmer groups have demonstrated their
innovativeness in nding a variety of ways to improve their products. One group, for example,
has discovered a method for processing quality dry mushroom without using a solar drier,
while an individual farmer processes his mushrooms by pickling.
Farmers are now training others in mushroom production. Recipes including mushroom
stew, soup and samosas have been devised and are prepared during eld days, and the
technologies for processing the mushrooms for sale are also demonstrated. The Hai district
council provides support by funding transport for extension staff to disseminate the mushroom
technologies to farmers not yet involved in the project. For established farmers the next step
is to produce mushrooms on a larger scale and market collectively. With support from HortiTengeru, the farmers groups are gradually being transformed into business units through the
formation and registration of mushroom savings and credit societies, which will be responsible
for the effective marketing of mushroom products for the benet of members.
Source: New Agriculturalist. 2007. A mushroom business in Tanzania.
(http://www.new-ag.info/07/03/focuson/focuson2.php)
CASE STUDY 2
Livelihood opportunities
Trade in cultivated mushrooms
can provide a readily available and
important source of cash income - for
men and women and the old, inrm
and disabled alike (see Case Study 2).
The role played by women in
rural mushroom production can be
very signicant. Certain parts of the
mushroom cultivation process, such
One of the best examples of opportunities in mushroom growing for the disabled can
be seen in the recent pioneering programme undertaken by the FAO Regional Ofce
for Asia and the Pacic in the poor Northeastern part of Thailand. The main aim of the
project was to enhance opportunities for rural people with disabilities to become selfreliant and to show their capabilities, allowing them to re-integrate their community and
be active members of society.
Several positive outcomes were achieved through training people with disabilities:
Essentials of
mushroom cultivation
Reproductive growth
when the fruit bodies are formed
The appearance of fruiting bodies or
mushroom varies according to the
species, but all have a vertical stalk
(stipe) and a head (pileus or cap).
Production of spores
by the mushroom fruit bodies
The underside of the cap has gills
or pores from which mushroom
spores are produced. The mushroom
produces several million spores in
its life, and this life cycle is repeated
each time the spores germinate to
form the mycelium.
Growing systems
Cultivated mushrooms are edible
fungi that grow on decaying organic
matter. Mushrooms obtain their
nutrients in three basic ways:
1 Saprobic, growing on dead
organic matter. Saprobic edible
fungi can be wild harvested,
but are most widely valued as
a source of food and medicine
in their cultivated forms. They
need a constant supply of
4
Hyphae connect with a tree root to form a
relationship that benets both partners, the fungus
and tree. The fungus provides phosphorus, minerals
and water, the tree provides carbohydrates for the
fungus growth and in some cases reproduce.
FRUITBODY
Spores are carried away from the
underside of the fruitbody by the
wind. If they land in a favourable
site, they germinate to produce
an underground branched web
called a mycelium.
3
YOUNG FRUITBODY
Emerges above ground.
If conditions remain
humid and the fruitbodies
avoid insect attack, they
grow to full size within a
fortnight.
2
SPORES
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CASE STUDY 3
Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) is a waterweed present in many of the rivers of Malawi.
It causes serious problems, such as reduced water quality and sh populations, blocked
irrigation and drainage systems, hinders river navigation, and promotes the growth of vectors
of insect-borne diseases and bilharzias. However, it is high in nitrogen.
Several groups of rural women are using water hyacinth as the substrate for growing oyster
mushroom (Pleurotus sajor-caju). They do not require much land and use simple growing
methods. There is an abundant supply of the substrate because the weed regenerates
rapidly. Since most of the materials needed for mushroom growing are obtained locally the
cultivation process is economically viable.
There are plans to grow other types of mushrooms such as Ganoderma lucidum and Agaricus
bisporus. Since the domestic production of mushrooms in Malawi (6.5 metric tonnes/year)
is signicantly lower than that of the annual demand (80 metric tonnes/year), the future for
mushroom cultivation for trade, as a livelihood activity, looks promising.
OXFAM, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Commerce
and Industry funded The Enterprise Development and Training Agency in Malawi, which
provide training to farmers on mushroom growing as an alternative livelihood strategy.
Source: Mkoka, C. 2003. Malawi turns worlds worst waterweed into a lucrative business.
(http://www.islamonline.net/english/science/2003/09/article03.shtml)
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Mushroom Species
Rice straw
Wheat straw
Coffee pulp
Sawdust
Sawdust-straw
Logs
Sawdust-rice bran
Corncobs
Paper
Common (Agaricus)
Oyster (Pleurotus)
Straw (Volvariella)
Bean straw
Oyster (Pleurotus)
Cotton straw
Oyster (Pleurotus)
Oyster (Pleurotus)
Coir
Oyster (Pleurotus)
Banana leaves
Straw (Volvariella)
Source: Beetz, A. & Kustudia, M. 2004. Mushroom cultivation and marketing. Horticulture Production
Guide. ATTRA Publication IP 087.
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1
identifying and cleaning a dedicated
room or building in which
temperature, moisture and sanitary
conditions can be controlled to grow
mushrooms in;
2
choosing a growing medium and
storing the raw ingredients in a clean
place under cover and protected
from rain;
3
pasteurising or sterilizing the
medium and bags in which, or tables
on which, mushrooms will be grown
(to exclude other fungi that would
compete for the same space - once
the selected fungi has colonized
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Key steps in
mushroom production
The basic concept in cultivation
is to start with some mushroom
spores, which grow into mycelium
and expand into a mass sufcient
in volume and stored up energy
to support the nal phase of the
mushroom reproductive cycle, which
is the formation of fruiting bodies or
mushrooms.
The key generic steps in
mushroom production a cycle that
takes between one to three months
from start to nish depending on
species are:
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laboratory
spores.
facilities
to
produce
Species selection
Although there has been a great
amount of research into mushrooms
and their cultivation in temperate
climates, there has unfortunately
been comparatively little on varieties
suitable for tropical climates. Many
commercial mushrooms only fruit
at around 20 C and are therefore
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1 Agaricus bisporus
The white button mushroom is the
most cultivated mushroom in the
world, of particular importance in
temperate regions. It is grown in
composted substrate and is commonly
Countries with hot climates lend themselves better to the production of tropical mushrooms,
such as oyster mushroom, which is the second most cultivated mushroom in the world.
Oyster and shiitake mushrooms are better suited to high temperatures, and grow well in
Namibia where humidity can be maintained.
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2 Pleurotus ostreatus
Oyster mushrooms are a good
choice for inexperienced cultivators
because they are easier to grow than
many other species. In addition,
they can become an integral part
of a sustainable agriculture system
utilising organic waste, can be grown
on a small-scale with a moderate
initial investment, and convert high
amounts of substrate to fruiting
bodies thereby increasing potential
protability.
Oyster mushrooms were rst
cultivated on tree logs, and are now
commonly grown on sawdust, wheat
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(Photo by N. G. Nair)
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(Photo by N. G. Nair)
4 Volvariella volvacea
Paddy straw mushroom cultivation is
often integrated with rice production
across much of Southeast Asia,
including Viet Nam. The mushrooms
also grow on substrates in addition
to paddy straw, including rice straw,
cotton waste, dried banana leaves and
oil palm bunch waste, but yields are
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CASE STUDY 5
The Biovillage Programme, connected with mushroom growing in India, was initiated by the
M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation. Its mission is to improve the livelihoods of villagers
in several localities in India. It offers new enterprises to bring new incomes, encourages the
need for cooperation among enterprises and training workshops to expand the knowledge
of the villagers in farming systems. Under this programme, a mushroom training and
demonstration centre is run by the local youth and this centre produces mushroom spawn
for the benet of the farmers. The villagers have beneted not only in terms of increased
incomes, but also through healthier diets as a result of consuming mushrooms.
The programme helps farmers in marketing their produce. Embedded in this marketing
strategy is the crucial concept that livelihood is not about money, but about empowerment.
The rural women in this programme have been given authority to create cooperative
societies. Through such empowerment, the women have been able to achieve things that
as individuals they would not have been able to. The programme has assisted villagers in
establishing market linkages with local markets or market in larger cities. This is a signicant
part of mushroom growing for livelihood, because an enterprise cannot increase villagers
livelihoods unless they are able to transform their produce into nancial returns. The formation
of cooperative societies brought about signicant advances in the villagers personal worth
and skills to manage small enterprises.
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Social assets
People draw upon formal and
informal resources to help meet
their
livelihood
objectives,
including networks and support
from families, friends, organizations
and membership of groups, such as
mushroom growers associations.
These contacts collectively strengthen
the individual by helping them and
their communities access information
and resources including technical
information, basic training, sources
of mushroom spores, and marketing
outlets to sell their crop.
Cultural, social and organizational
issues are important for determining
the direct and indirect benets of
mushroom trade for different social
groups. As a result of the high
perishability of mushrooms, it can
be of great benet, for small-scale
cultivators selling their crop, to be
organized with other growers and
to share transport costs, market
contacts, etc. In addition, working
in collaboration with other growers
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(Photo by N. G. Nair)
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FIGURE 11 Mushroom houses with walls built from oil palm leaves
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Marketing channels
There are typically three principal
marketing routes for mushroom
growers:
The grower can sell directly to
the consumers either at the farm
gate or at local markets; however,
the ability to reach distant
markets is limited.
The grower can sell to an agent
who then sells the mushrooms
either to local or distant markets,
including exports.
The grower can belong to a
cooperative or another farm
organization, which offers easy
market linkages to both local and
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CASE STUDY 6
The distance from production to market is a crucial factor in trading mushrooms. There are
many roadside markets in Malawi which are close to the forest areas where wild fungi are
harvested and also cultivated.
The most important thing is to get the fungi as quickly as possible from the forest to the
stall. However, because of the perishable nature of mushrooms, sellers are forced either
to sell their unsold fresh produce at the end of the day for a low price, or dry it before it
perishes. As such, preserving mushrooms in brine is an important feature of trade and
allows for larger quantities to be offered for sale.
Source: FAO. 2004. Wild edible fungi, a global over view of their use and importance to people,
by E. Boa, Non-Wood Forest Products, No.17, Rome.
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The roadside sellers are aware that customers will pay more for species that are fresh
and presented in an attractive manner. They clean fruiting bodies and select the best to
be placed at the top of piles on their stalls; some collectors try to hide mushrooms infested
with insects at the bottom of trays, but such tricks rarely go undetected for long.
Organization
Good organization helps mushroom
cultivators in several ways:
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CASE STUDY 7
Organizing farmers has proved a tough challenge in Northeast Indias political economy,
but Pranjal Baruah and the NGO Ashoka work through the medium of mushroom
cultivation to organize farmers. Mushroom cultivation systems have been developed to
strengthen farmer control over harvesting and sale, and the establishment of a mushroom
farmers network has enabled price and quality to be standardized. Pranjal established
a mushroom lab to provide a continuous supply of quality spawns at low cost, and the
farmer network offers training and a buy-back guarantee as an incentive for farmers, the
landless poor, and the unemployed to get involved.
Farmers in the northeast are relatively new to the market economy. The potential of
mushroom cultivation to lift economic conditions in the northeast has long been recognized
because of its easy technology, low investment needed, and quick returns from cultivation;
moreover, the crop is not yet tied to territorial middlemen. However, there had been
little effort to enable the industry to ourish: spores were not readily available and cost
too much to be viable; technical and information resources were sparse; research and
development was lacking; and marketing was negligible.
Starting in Assam, Pranjal rst identied the oyster mushroom as the most suitable variety
and established a spawn laboratory. In order to stimulate consumer demand, he began a
mushroom awareness drive, promoting mushroom eating at fairs, providing free samples,
developing innovative recipes, making pickles, face packs, powders, and more.
There were few farmers growing mushrooms six years ago, but following recruitment
and training, he has reached over 5 000 growers, and resulted in some 300 mediumsized mushroom farms across Assam that regularly produce an average of 500 kg of
mushrooms in a season. This gure does not include the smaller-scale farmers, home
growers, and others who have been trained, but buy their spawns elsewhere.
Current intentions are to develop advanced training for trainers and larger growers, and
have these entrepreneurs bridge the gap between the lab and the small growers. In
addition to individual entrepreneurs, Pranjal is working with mushroom groups, ranging
from women who grow mushrooms collectively in villages to more unconventional groups
like prisoners in jails.
Pranjal has spent the last eight years learning about the mushroom trade and setting up
systems to address its various facets and challenges. Known as the Mushroom Man of
Assam, his determination and business acumen has seen his venture grow tenfold in just
eight years. Pranjal knows that sticking to mushrooms and making sure his farmers are in
control may be the best chance for farmers to organize in the northeast.
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Various
types
of
supporting
services have the potential to
improve conditions for smallscale mushroom growers and other
producers, processors, farmers and
traders. Some of these interventions
are low level and practical, easily
delivered by extension organizations
undertaking project-based work with
communities and small enterprises.
Others are more over-reaching,
including policy recommendations,
and therefore rely on continued
advocacy work by local, regional
and national organizations. The
two approaches are not mutually
exclusive but will likely involve
working with different people and
over different time scales.
Support for community level
mushroom cultivation can come from
state or municipal governments, the
private sector and, very frequently,
NGOs. Successful interventions
can have positive knock-on effects
for other sectors, and often small
changes result in large outcomes.
Hence, direct assistance does not
need to be about large nancial
investment, but rather it should
encourage sustainable development
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Market information
External assistance can help establish
links and contacts for information on
trends in product price, quantity and
quality, understanding how market
chains are structured and function,
why similar mushroom cultivation
initiatives may have failed or been
successful. Additional training and
support can then enable cultivators
to use this information to their
advantage.
Financial services
Fortunately small-scale mushroom
cultivation
does
not
require
signicant nancial assets to
establish an enterprise. Cash, savings
and access to credit or grants are
seldom essential to initiate small-
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Business and
entrepreneurial skills
Entrepreneurial skills are required
if growers intend their cultivation
activities to go beyond subsistence
and local trade, and wish to develop
a small business. These may include
basic bookkeeping skills, planning
and administration, management
supplies of materials (sterilization
equipment, and appropriate and
timely quantities of substrate
and spores), management and
coordination of packaging and
transport, and negotiation skills and
marketing.
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Opportunities
Mushrooms can play an important
role contributing to the livelihoods
of rural and peri-urban dwellers,
through food security and income
generation. Mushrooms can make
a valuable dietary addition through
protein and various micronutrients
and, coupled with their medicinal
properties, mushroom cultivation
can represent a valuable small-scale
enterprise option.
Mushrooms can be successfully
grown without access to land,
and can provide a regular income
throughout the year. Growing
mushrooms also helps avoid some
of the challenges facing collectors
of wild fungi, including species
identication, obtaining access and
permits for collecting, and practicing
sustainable harvest. Cultivation is
also independent of weather, and
can recycle agricultural by-products
as composted substrate which, in
turn, can be used as organic mulch
in growing other horticultural crops,
including vegetables.
Mushroom cultivation is highly
combinable with a variety of
other traditional agricultural and
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FAO. 2004. Wild edible fungi, a global overview of their use and importance
to people, by E. Boa, Non-Wood Forest Products No. 17, Rome.
FAO. 2000. Mushroom production training for disabled people: a progress
report, Sustainable Development Department, Rome.
FAO. 1990. Technical Guidelines for Mushroom Growing in the Tropics,
by T.H. Quimio, S.T. Chang & D.J. Royse, Rome.
FAO. 1985. Manual on mushroom cultivation, Rome.
FAO. 1983. Growing mushrooms. Oyster mushroom, jews ear mushroom,
straw mushroom, Regional office for Asia and Pacific, Bangkok.
Flegg, P., Spencer, D.M. & Wood, D.A. 1985. (Eds.) The biology and
technology of the cultivated mushroom, John Wiley and Sons.
Food Chain.1998. Cultivation of the Oyster Mushroom in Traditional Brick
Pots, No. 23.
Food Chain. 1995. A Mouldy Old Business, No 15.
Fuller, B., & Prommer, I. 2000. (Eds) Population-DevelopmentEnvironment in Namibia, background Readings. Interim Report, International
Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
Hall, I., Zambonelli, A. & Primavera, E. 1998. Ectomycorrhizal fungi with
edible fruiting bodies 3, Tuber magnatum, Tuberaceae, Economic Botany,
52(2): 192200.
Hanko J. 2001. Mushroom cultivation for people with disabilities
a training manual, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok.
Hobbs, C. 1995. Medicinal Mushrooms: An exploration of Traditional,
Healing and Culture, Botanica Press, Santa Cruz.
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http://attra.ncat.org/new_pubs/attra-pub/mushroom.html?id=other
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info@sirdc.ac.zw
http://www.sirdc.ac.zw/
The Biotechnology Research Institute (BRI) of the Scientic and Industrial
Research and Development Centre (SIRDC) produces and supplies high quality
mushroom spawn in Zimbabwe. BRI also provides the supporting services
for mushroom growing, e.g. training and consultancy. At the moment, oyster
mushroom spawn (Pleurotus sajor-caju and P. ostreatus) is being produced.
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There are a number of commercial spawn producers around the world, but
sustainable mushroom cultivation relies on the identication of a local reliable
manufacturer of quality spawn. Information regarding these spawn suppliers
can be obtained from the mushroom grower associations in different countries,
but a useful starting point, if no contacts are known, are the following two
international societies:
secretary@isms.biz
www.isms.biz
http://www.worldmushroomsociety.com
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info@fiiro-ng.org
http://www.fiiro-ng.org/mushroom-production.htm
Notes